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Spain threatens retaliation against Italy unless border checks lifted by Sunday
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Spain has threatened to retaliate against Italy unless Rome lifts temporary border checks by Sunday, escalating a bitter dispute over migration policy between the two EU countries. The Spanish Prime Minister's office warned of 'proportionate measures' to protect citizens' interests, likely reciprocal border checks. The row follows Italian criticism of Spain's regularization of 500,000 undocumented migrants and the recent Ceuta crisis, where over 70,000 migrants arrived. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi defended the Schengen suspension as a temporary measure, linking its duration to the perceived threat from Ceuta. Spanish intelligence warns of a potential second migrant wave targeting the city on August 15. The dispute reflects deepening tensions between Prime Ministers Pedro Sánchez and Giorgia Meloni over migration management within the EU.
Source report
Madrid – Spain has threatened to retaliate against Italy unless Rome lifts temporary border checks by Sunday, escalating a dispute between the two countries over migration.
“Should it fail to do so… Spain will be forced to adopt proportionate measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s office said in a statement on Friday.
Madrid did not specify what those measures could entail, though imposing reciprocal checks on travellers arriving from Italy would be an obvious option.
Spain Hits Back at Italian Criticism
The Spanish government also responded to Italian criticism of its migration policy, arguing that Italy itself had failed to curb irregular arrivals, “with figures that have reached double those of Spain.”
Yet, Spain is “confident that a pro-European spirit, common sense and good faith will prevail,” the statement reads.
Strained Relations Between Sánchez and Meloni
Relations between Sánchez and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have grown increasingly tense in recent months, particularly after the arrival of more than 70,000 migrants, most from neighbouring Morocco, in Ceuta on mainland Africa.
At the June summit of EU leaders in Brussels, Meloni criticised her Spanish counterpart for having regularised half a million undocumented migrants in Spain, giving them access to the rest of the EU’s Schengen area.
Following the Ceuta crisis in late July, Meloni, together with Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, co-signed a letter from 22 EU countries urging a coordinated European response and blaming Spanish pro-migration policy as “pull factors.”
Ceuta Crisis and Future Concerns
The vast majority of migrants have since left Ceuta, though Spanish authorities on Thursday gave full credibility to online rumours that a second wave might target the city on 15 August.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi addressed the situation in an interview on Bar Italia, a program created by the Brothers of Italy party:
“The suspension of the Schengen Agreement with Spain is a temporary measure permitted by the EU treaties; we’ll see after 15 August whether this threat will be observed.”
He was referring to the duration of Italy’s suspension of the Schengen Agreement with Spain due to pressure from irregular migrants in Ceuta.
“Once we realise that the danger has passed, we will be happy first and foremost for Spain, then for Europe, and also for Italy,” the minister added.
Inés Fernández-Pontes and Pietro Guastamacchia contributed to reporting.
Source
EuractivWestern
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Italy Suspends Schengen with Spain Over Ceuta Migrant Crisis